IMPLEMENTATION OF COURSES IN DISTANCE EDUCATION MODEL. TOWARDS VIRTUAL UNIVERSITIES OR KEEPING THE SYSTEM PRESENTIAL?

While the global trend in education, particularly higher education, encourages the use of distance education mode, either for reasons of economic resources, human resources, but in general the benefits it can offer both for students to the universities themselves. However, this transition is sometimes not so simple.

Some institutions of higher education in Mexico, they encourage their teachers create new courses in distance mode, but note that it appears that the content, teaching-learning strategies and even evaluation must continue to be quite similar face to face education.

We must remember that distance education is not only the use of digital technology to deliver content to students separated geographically, nor refers to using digital technologies to support student attendance system. Nor is to provide flexible activities, or teaching through these technologies. Distance higher education must cover certain items that are sometimes unknown to the teacher.

The central point of this paper is to present results based on qualitative methods (particularly interviews) to teachers who have experienced the implementation of distance courses, from the National Polytechnic Institute (IPN), particularly in the Professional Engineering and Advanced Technologies Interdisciplinary Unit and the Research Center for Economic, Administrative and Social Studies, Mexico. We want to identify whether there are barriers paradigmatic, cognitive barriers relating to distance education (training) and / or infrastructure and operational problems.